Calvin Harris and Diplo Reveal the Secrets Behind a Hit Pop Song

The songwriters, musicians and producers responsible for some of music's biggest hits gathered together to celebrate their achievements last night at ASCAP's annual Pop Music Awards at the Loews Hollywood Hotel. The attendees and winners, including Nick Carter, Diplo, Debbie Gibson, Dr. Luke, Calvin Harris, and Ne-Yo, had dinner and cocktails by the hotel's rooftop pool before adjoining to the Ray Dolby Ballroom to hail those who crafted and published last year's most played pop songs.

"A good pop song to me should be probably a catchy song," said Diplo, who was lauded with ASCAP's Vanguard Award for his work with M.I.A., Beyoncé, and Usher, as well as his own project Major Lazer.

"Something that disgustingly traps you. It's got to be like a disease. It's infectious and crazy. Or sometimes you just want to make a song that's beautiful and is able to reach people in different ways."

While Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were honored with the ASCAP Founders Award, and fun. took the Song of the Year for "We Are Young," the real champions of the evening were producers Dr. Luke and Max Martin. The duo spent nearly the entire night onstage being handed award after award.

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Martin, best known for penning songs for Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and Taylor Swift, including said country star's breakup anthem "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together," won Songwriter of the Year, breaking ASCAP's record for earning the most awards in the event's 30 year history. "A good pop song to me," Martin said before the awards, "should be probably a catchy song. And if everything goes well, it should change pop culture a little bit. That's the goal."

"A great writer is what makes a good pop song," Nick Carter said. "That's what we're here for, right? I think what makes a great pop song is a fantastic melody, lyrical content that's relatable to most, people and a really current beat. For me, songwriting is really personal–it's almost too personal and I never put out as much as I would like to. My ultimate goal when I write is to artistically satisfy myself."

Calvin Harris offered his best songwriting advice, too: "You need three or four really catchy hooks–it doesn't matter what they are, whether they're musical hooks or lyrical hooks. You need some kind of sound in there that someone hasn't heard before. Or sometimes you can take a sound or an idea that happened 30 years ago that nobody's really thought about for a while, and you can update it and incorporate it into a modern setting."

Harris, who just released a video for his single "I Need Your Love" featuring Ellie Goulding, refused to say which vocalist he hopes to collaborate with next because fellow DJ and producer David Guetta was hovering nearby. "I know David's doing a new album as well, and I don't want to give him any ideas," Harris told us. "I'm keeping them to myself."

Later Debbie Gibson, wearing a tight black Bebe dress, used the opportunity to introduce herself to Guetta and Diplo. "I met two of the three people I want to work with tonight," she said after chasing down Diplo to shake his hand. "The other is Calvin Harris, and [then] my life will be made. When a lawyer calls a manager who calls an agent, it never happens. You have to connect with the person. So there you go. You saw it here first!"